It ‘s the time of year where one gets inspired by color. I know the Pantone palette doesn’t include pink this Spring (you have to wait for the fall palette, although that pink, “Vivacious” is really more of a fuchsia). I never have been on top of the trends, because, well, I’m usually ahead of my time!

So romantic. I am in love with the portrait (from this story) of Mme. de Florian. Look what she’s wearing.

Boldini’s Portrait of Mme. de Florian

All of which inspired me to dig into my vault for pink rocks.

Almost all pink gemstones have a “love” theme to them, and since this is the season for it, underscored by all the baby ducks and geese I ride by in the lagoons at the park, I thought these would be appropriate to make and share.

First up: these rose cut pale pink sapphires, I paired them up with andalusite garnets (an absolutely fabulous rock, the color changes depending on which way the light hits).

The last couple of weeks or so have not been the best for me – I’ve been trying not to get too stressed out over my petty little problems (learning curves, taxes, etc), but some days I’m ready for my happiest hour much too soon… Having said that, I am usually pretty good about keeping a lot of the crazy world affairs from seeping into my little world and ruining my zen (not having a television helps). But sometimes, you gotta rant. I’ll keep it brief – trinkets to follow (this is after all, a jewelry blog).

I grew up in Montreal – in its heyday. I loved going downtown as a kid with my dad to get bagels and the European goodies that lined Saint Lawrence Boulevard, aka “the main” (or boulevard Saint-Laurent its official name, in French). My parents were Eastern European immigrants, they met and married in Montreal, a city filled with a plethora of languages. In our house alone, at any given time, you could hear: Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, English and French. In the early 70s we lived through the “October Crisis”, and language became a galvanizing issue. Rumbles in schoolyards between French and English boys were commonplace. It was crazy and ridiculous.

In 1976 the Partie Quebecois came into power and created language and signage laws that drove the Anglophone community, and pretty much everyone else, out of the province, and along with it went most of the money that made the economy hum. For the next couple of decades, the province suffered financially. Everything was for sale, for lease, or essentially abandoned. Real estate values plunged and the city fell to its knees. During this time, a friend of mine moved to Montreal and found a spacious 3 bedroom apartment he liked. When the landlord told him the rent was $300 a month, he looked at him, surprised and said “Really? I’ll take two!” Slowly, people started to move back, the politics changed and the city became a vibrant viable place again.

Last year Quebec experienced a relapse. The Partis Quebecois returned to power. The new language police have done things like ban the word “pasta” off of restaurant menus (Mon Dieu! Pasta is not a French word!) and have monitors in schoolyards to scold children speaking any other language besides French. Sadly, I am not making any of this up – you can google “pastagate” or “no recess for French” for the ridiculous details.

It seems ironic to me that I now live in South Louisiana where less than a hundred years ago, the French language was essentially banned and Cajun children were punished for speaking French at school.

Zachary Richard is a Cajun singer/songwriter living near Lafayette, Louisiana (I am one of his biggest fans). He writes haunting ballads and rocking Zydeco music in French AND in English. Mr. Richard lived in Montreal during the 70s and played around town when I was growing up. Always a supporter of French culture, this song “No French No More” is a heartbreaker; inspired by his father, it’s about a son who gives up his culture to become successful, and in the end, laments his decision.

Nobody wants to be railroaded from a tradition they love. But I would like to just say this: It was wrong to force everyone to speak only English in Louisiana a hundred years ago, and it’s wrong to force everyone to communicate only in French in Quebec now.

Not surprisingly, when I’ve had a chance to make jewelry for my own amusement lately, I have been turning to blue stones (peace, balance, communication(!), aligning your higher self) . Ya’ll up there in La Belle Province can probably use a couple.

Blue Tourmaline & Watermelon Tourmaline Drop Earrings

How about these babies? Wonderful for bringing peace, balance and aligning your higher self for deeper insight and intuition. Watermelon tourmalines represent the heart chakra, they are emotionally healing and bring about emotional understanding. Oui oui!

For compassionate and sympathetic communication, yellow/golden beryl (aka heliodor) will do the trick, and the aquamarine brings peace, courage and happiness. C’est magnifique!

Rose Cut Aquamarine Blue Tourmaline Necklace with Sapphire Briolettes

Underlining the point here: aquamarines for peace, courage and happiness, blue tourmalines symbolize peace and they help with communication, eloquence and emotional purification. Sapphires represent truth and faithfulness. Oooh la la!

Rose Cut Peridot Earrings With Rose Cut Turquoise Drops

Ici (translation: here) we have the rose cut turquoise for wisdom, et pour le grounding the wayward spirit. The peridot will help to cleanse negative emotions. Ah, fantastique et perfect for le weekend!

Hello April. Time for doing those “Spring” things, like bringing some color into your life! I find it peculiar that April is the month of the diamond (a girl’s best friend!) since they are generally not that saturated with color. I don’t do a lot of diamond pieces, but we all need a best friend as an anchor, so I totally approve of at least one in the mix. Especially in rings, where they really “play well with others”!

Did you know that diamonds are no longer the hardest substance on the planet? There are a couple of materials that have been discovered to be harder (according to my ball&chain, my head should be on the list too) but none of them are going to have diamond dealers losing any sleep, because wurtzite boron nitride or my head aren’t going to look that good set in a bezel or prongs. Diamonds have been around for thousands of years, originally they were valued as talisman for protection and to ward off evil (in addition to their shiny sparkly allure).

I especially like the “wacky” ones. You know, the crooked broken ones that look like they’ve had a hard life – full of flaws and character. When I find them, if I have the cash, I buy ’em. They always look great with my other rocks.

Sometimes, you don’t want a ring, you want something else, anything but. My friend Jane, brought her engagement rings (yes, that would be plural) to me after she left her husband, and had me make a few other things with the stones. I made these earrings for her with a couple of the diamonds.

Baby Geode Rose Cut Black Spinel & Diamond Earrings

I have a couple of diamond pieces in the shop, you can check them out here: DIAMOND

You can also contact me for a special “wacky” piece! Send me an email: info@ledajewelco.com and we’ll get you stacked too!

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